Novelty clothing and apparel have become increasingly popular over the years to the extent that there are entire retail outlets geared solely towards T-shirts, sweatshirts, jackets and accessories having novelty characteristics. Most people are familiar with various such apparel that feature caricatures and other humorous designs and slogans imprinted thereon. Such apparel is commercially successful as it permits the wearer to make a statement or to stand out in a crowd. Indeed, novelty clothing often brings delight and even pride to the wearer, as well as entertaining others who see the novelty clothing.
Traditionally, novelty apparel included mostly T-shirts and sweatshirts having two-dimensional pictures or slogan schemes printed on the front and/or back panels of the shirt. For example, it is common to see T-shirts with cartoon characters, movie characters or sports figures emblazoned on the shirt for all to see. The pleasure of wearing such novelty apparel often comes from receiving a response from passers-by when exhibiting the two-dimensional design or slogan emblazoned thereon. Indeed, in many cases, the more unusual the design, the more effective the novelty apparel and more pleasing to the user, ultimately resulting in greater sales.
As expected, with two-dimensional imprints on novelty clothing, there is a limit with which a person can be creative with the imprinted designs. While there are numerous designs and slogan that can be used, the manner in which they can be expressed on the clothing is limited to a flat imprint. As a result, there have been generated in the prior art, 3-dimensional novelty clothing such as found in the patents to Erhardt, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,815,149 and Thill, U.S. Pat. No. 4,837,864, in which is disclosed a molded 3-dimensional design affixed to one face of an article of clothing. With the advent of 3-dimensional clothing, the extent of creativity possible in generating appealing novelty clothing was expanded, wherein the possibilities of 3-dimensional effects could be fully exploited. The 3-dimensional designs of Thill and Erhardt, et al., are molded and form a relatively rigid relief pattern that is not subject to change under normal use. Such designs are constructed of rubberized or plastic material which is affixed in some manner to the clothing.
While a 3-dimensional design adds a new dimension to the creative expression, it is generally inert. As a result, these novelty articles lack the added dimension found in the present invention--that of "coming to life". In addition, the manufacturing costs associated with rubberized or plastic, molded, 3-dimensional designs are sufficiently cost ineffective in comparison to conventional 2-dimensional designs directly imprinted on the article of clothing. Consequently, there is a need to develop a 3-dimensional design that enhances the amusement generated by the wearer and passers-by while providing a cost effective novelty item.